[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 356 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 356

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the man-
           made famine that occurred in Ukraine in 1932-1933.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 5, 2003

    Mr. Hyde (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, and Mr. Lantos) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                       on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the man-
           made famine that occurred in Ukraine in 1932-1933.

Whereas 2003 marks the 70th anniversary of the height of the famine in Ukraine 
        that was deliberately initiated and enforced by the Soviet regime 
        through the seizure of grain and the blockade of food shipments into the 
        affected areas, as well as by forcibly preventing the starving 
        population from leaving the region, for the purposes of eliminating 
        resistance to the forced collectivization of agriculture and destroying 
        Ukraine's national identity;
Whereas this man-made famine resulted in the deaths of at least 5,000,000 men, 
        women, and children in Ukraine and an estimated 1-2 million people in 
        other regions;
Whereas the famine took place in the most productive agricultural area of the 
        former Soviet Union while foodstocks throughout the country remained 
        sufficient to prevent the famine and while the Soviet regime continued 
        to export large quantities of grain;
Whereas many Western observers with first-hand knowledge of the famine, 
        including The New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty, who was 
        awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for his reporting from the Soviet 
        Union, knowingly and deliberately falsified their reports to cover up 
        and refute evidence of the famine in order to suppress criticism of the 
        Soviet regime;
Whereas Western observers and scholars who reported accurately on the existence 
        of the famine were subjected to disparagement and criticism in the West 
        for their reporting of the famine;
Whereas the Soviet regime and many scholars in the West continued to deny the 
        existence of the famine until the collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991 
        resulted in many of its archives being made accessible, thereby making 
        possible the documentation of the premeditated nature of the famine and 
        its harsh enforcement;
Whereas the final report of the United States Government's Commission on the 
        Ukraine Famine, established on December 13, 1985, concluded that the 
        victims were ``starved to death in a man-made famine'' and that ``Joseph 
        Stalin and those around him committed genocide against Ukrainians in 
        1932-1933''; and
Whereas, although the Ukraine famine was one of the greatest losses of human 
        life in the 20th century, it remains insufficiently known in the United 
        States and in the world: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the millions of victims of the man-made famine that 
        occurred in Ukraine in 1932-1933 should be solemnly remembered 
        and honored in the 70th year marking the height of the famine;
            (2) this man-made famine was designed and implemented by 
        the Soviet regime as a deliberate act of terror and mass murder 
        against the Ukrainian people;
            (3) the decision of the Government of Ukraine and the 
        Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) to give official 
        recognition to the famine and its victims, as well as their 
        efforts to secure greater international awareness and 
        understanding of the famine, should be supported; and
            (4) the official recognition of the famine by the 
        Government of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada represents a 
        significant step in the reestablishment of Ukraine's national 
        identity, the elimination of the legacy of the Soviet 
        dictatorship, and the advancement of efforts to establish a 
        democratic and free Ukraine that is fully integrated into the 
        Western community of nations.
                                 <all>